From Cape Town to Camden Town

This Monday and Tuesday, Dingwalls in London's Camden Town will play host to Digital Slam 2, a club night complete with live link-ups to New York, San Francisco, Cape Town and Paris, writes Fiona Mountford.

One of the highlights of the Camden Mix arts festival, sponsored by Camden Council, it is the brainchild of Digital Diaspora, a group of artists, musicians and DJs whose aim is to bring the cutting edge of technology to clubs.

Using ISDN (International Standard Data Network) - a method of transmitting audio and video text using phone lines - the Slam will have (deep breath here) live, two-way, full-motion video and Dolby sound audio, interactive sessions. Haven't you always wanted to witness a simultaneous jam session between London and New York?

In fact, anyone in the world with access to the Net can join in, as the performances are being broadcast live via webcasts. And with several terminals in each location, the "virtual community" in the five clubs can chat among itself, and to anyone else who is "linked up".

So, with more people catching on to the possibilities of ISDN, is this the way forward for clubs? With MTV, CNN and now a third group of initials, the world is truly becoming one big, knowledgeable, jammin' family.

For ticket information, call the Mix Info line on 0894 808070.